A step backwards

Jason Giddings came up with an idea for a multitouch, glass keyboard and mouse and launched a Kickstarter project late in 2011 to get it funded. I remember coming across it when I was launching my Kickstarter. He was aiming for $50K in funding but ended up getting over $143K. Amazing.
My thoughts now are the same as my thoughts then – while the project is gorgeous, it’s a step backwards in usability. A desktop keyboard with no haptic feedback (translation: you don’t know where the keys are unless you look at the screen)?
If I have any smack to talk about my iPhone and iPad, it’s that it’s a pain in the ass typing on a glass keyboard, because, well, there’s no haptic feedback.
I don’t intentionally seek out projects to trash, but Mr. Giddings has taken the main interface to computers and made it less usable.
In addition to function following form on this Kickstarter, Mr. Giddings’ project also shows how hard it can be to turn a 3-D rendering into a real product. Have a looks as his project updates to see what I mean. In short, things have gotten complicated.
It’s exciting to fund projects on Kickstarter, but be wary when you do. My Kickstarter was a screen-printed poster series and I thought that was more than enough to handle. I can’t imagine what goes into product design, with machining, protyping and software/hardware integration.

Published by Mike

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